


A Familiar Comfort

by kethni



Category: Veep (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-24
Updated: 2017-06-24
Packaged: 2018-11-18 09:56:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11288871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kethni/pseuds/kethni
Summary: She could feel him watching as she walked into the house. Then he drove away into the gathering darkness.





	A Familiar Comfort

 

There was a chill in the air and the sky was the colour of dirty dish water. Sue pulled on her gloves. A stray raindrop struck her cheek. As she looked up, more drops fell.

Kent put up his umbrella as the rain grew heavier.

He offered her his arm. She took it. They descended the pitted stone steps and followed the coffin bearers across the grass. Sue’s heels sank a little into the damp ground.

At the graveside, there was a short reading, nothing ostentatious, and the coffin was lowered into the ground.

The rain grew heavier and rattled against Kent’s umbrella.

Sue looked at Kent. He was staring straight ahead.

Around them, people were making noises about moving on to the wake. His sisters were looking at him for a lead. Sue gave his arm a slight squeeze. He looked at her. That is, he faced her. He didn’t seem to be focused on anything.

‘Time to go to the wake,’ Sue suggested.

A nod.

They began to move. The mourners were drifting towards the cars. Kent walked to the edge of the grave. Sue tensed.

Then Kent turned away, and they followed the others. Sue watched her step. The ground was growing muddy and threatening to engulf her shoes. Sue moved closer to Kent. He shifted the umbrella to his other hand, and put his arm around her.

When they reached the cars, he held the umbrella over her while she climbed into her seat. Then Kent shut the door, walked around the car, and got in. He watched the other cars leave and then gripped the steering wheel. His hands were pale and bloodless.

Sue waited.

‘I don’t want to go,’ he said.

Sue squeezed his hand.

‘I don’t want to go to the wake’, he said.

‘Then we won’t go.’

Kent squeezed his eyes shut.

‘What do you want to do?’ Sue asked.

‘I don’t know.’ He let go of the steering wheel and sagged back against the seat.

‘Shall I drive?’

Kent shook his head and started the car. Sue watched the wipers cut through the water, turning the world outside into a blur of colours. As the car grew warmer, Sue took off her hat, and let down her hair.

He didn’t look at her but stared out of the windscreen. They left the cemetery, and took the freeway. The rain battered against the roof and the sides of the car. The sound of it bounced around the car making conversation impossible.

It wouldn’t have mattered. She could have said anything. He was in no mood to talk.

The rain lessened as they pulled off the freeway. By the time that they approached the woods, it was possible to be heard if you raised your voice.

‘I’m hungry,’ Sue said. ‘I need to eat.’

A frown. A nod. He turned away and drove to the small restaurant. There were faded cartoon animals on the sign and battered play equipment in the garden. Sue knew the type of restaurant. She expected little from the cuisine and less from the drinks menu. Sue put her hair up and her hat on as Kent opened the door for her. She looked at his face as she stood. His mouth was set in a grim line. His eyes were dull.

She took his arm as they walked into the restaurant. He moved a little closer to her.

It was quiet inside. No families. Mostly men who came to the area to hunt and fish. They stared at Kent’s suit and Sue’s dress. At her mud-spattered shoes.

Sue ordered steak and fries. Kent shook his head when asked for his order.

‘You have to eat,’ Sue said. ‘That isn’t a suggestion.’

He shrugged.

‘He’ll have the salmon,’ she said to the waitress.

Kent frowned slightly.

‘If you leave some I can try it,’ she said.

She took off her gloves. Kent touched the back of her hand with his fingertips. She didn’t draw her hand back.

He ate a few bites of food, no more, but waited patiently while she ate hers.

His cell kept vibrating. Hers did not. Sue supposed it was his family.

‘They must be worried,’ she said.

He pushed his cell across the table to her. Sue neatly put down her cutlery.

Kent’s youngest sister was almost incoherent. The middle sister was furious.

‘He can’t just pretend this isn’t happening!’

‘He knows,’ Sue said. She was watching the gentle tremble of his body. ‘He isn’t pretending. He is merely dealing with it differently.’

After they had eaten, they drove into the woods. The trees were old here, gnarled and knotted boles with bent and quivering branches that reached at across the winding track.

He parked in a clearing. The light that filtered through the canopy of branches was exhausted of warmth and life. The rain had stopped now and taken the chill with it.

‘What are we doing here, Kent?’ Sue asked gently.

He took off his seatbelt. ‘We came here,’ he said. ‘The first time she got sick.’

‘ln a cabin?’ Sue asked.

A nod. ‘I was a child. I thought it was a game. Hiding from the monsters and spies.’

‘She was trying to protect you.’ Sue took off her seatbelt. ‘She didn’t want you to be afraid.’

‘She was afraid,’ Kent said. ‘All the time.’

Sue was quiet. The murky swamps of childhood pain were something she avoided at all costs.

Kent opened the door and got out of the car. After a moment, he opened her door for her. He had never told her details before. He had mentioned that his mother was sick, but Sue had thought nothing of it. Old people got sick. It wasn’t until much later that she realised that he hadn’t meant that kind of sickness.

Sue stood beside him. ‘Your sisters are concerned,’ she said.

He shook his head. Then he turned and looked at Sue, scanning her face. She clasped her hands together.

Kent cupped her face. His thumb gently followed the sweep of her cheekbone

She should have said she had a boyfriend.

She said nothing.

He kissed her. Not the awkward, tentative way he had kissed her in the past.

She should have stopped him. She knew she only had to say the word.

She said nothing.

He looked into her eyes. She looked away from the need in them.

Sue unbuttoned her coat. Kent unbuttoned his.

He kissed her again. She could hear own breathing, the little gulps of air already deepening.

She should have told him that he was upset. That he was grieving. She should have told him that he wasn’t thinking clearly.

She said nothing. Not even when he pushed her against the trees.

He was pressing his face against her neck. His breath was warm against her skin. Sue pushed her fingers into his hair. He tugged her dress up over her thighs.

She unbuckled his belt and unzipped his flies.

He yanked down her panties.

Sue wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She was panting now.

He was panting now.

She felt his tears against her neck. Heard his muffled sobs. She murmured soothing, nonsense sounds.

***

He was embarrassed but solicitous, helping her brush off her coat and fix her hair. Then they went back to the car. As she was putting on her seatbelt, her cell rang.

‘Hello, Sean,’ she said. ‘No. I’m not sure. A moment.’ She turned to Kent. ‘Will I be home before six?’

He nodded.

‘I’ll be home by then,’ Sue said. ‘Goodbye.’

Kent glanced at her, then returned his attention to the road.

Sue put her cell away. She noticed that he was licking his lips.

‘You’re dating Sean again?’ Kent asked.

‘I am.’

‘I... I didn’t... I didn’t know that,’ he said.

‘I did.’ Sue said. ‘I didn’t tell you. Therefore, your guilt is misplaced.’

It didn’t seem to help. He was shifting slightly in his seat.

‘I shouldn’t have... I’m not in the habit of...’

Sue put her hand on his knee. ‘You didn’t do anything I didn’t want you to do. I didn’t do anything that I didn’t want to do.’

A nod. A sigh. ‘Okay.’

The collar of her dress was damp. She dabbed it with a Kleenex. She looked at herself in the mirror: smeared lipstick and mascara. She began fixing it.

‘You have lipstick in your moustache,’ she said.

It was the first time she’d seen him smile all day. It was small, but warm.

‘Ah,’ he said. ‘Do you have a wipe?’

‘What are you going to do after you drop me off?’ Sue asked, handing one over.

‘I’ll go to the wake.’

She raised her eyebrows. ‘Will people still be there?’

‘Sure. Probably until the early hours.’ He glanced at her. ‘Why?’

She was silent for a moment. ‘I don’t think you should be alone.’

‘I’ll go to the wake,’ he repeated. ‘Or the girls will worry.’

‘What will you tell them?’

He shrugged. ‘We went for a drive. I took you home.’

They drove on in silence. Not the awkward, uncomfortable silence of people with no idea what to say, but the comfortable silence of people thinking privately. People reassured by the simple presence of the other person.

‘Will you be alright?’ Sue asked.

‘It’s not a difficult drive back.’

‘I didn’t mean that.’

His hand touched hers, for a moment. ‘I will.’

‘I’ll call your sisters and make sure,’ she said.

‘Okay.’

Sue crossed her legs. ‘No argument?’

Kent shook his head. ‘No. I don’t want you to worry.’

‘I’m not worried,’ she said.

His look said that he didn’t believe her. She ignored it. Some things were more important for not being said.

* * *

He parked outside her house. There were already lights on. She saw Kent’s expression when he registered the lights and the meaning.

‘Goodnight, Kent,’ Sue said. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’

‘Thank you for...’ His skin flushed a little. ‘Thank you.’

She kissed his cheek. ‘Of course.’

She could feel him watching as she walked into the house. Then he drove away into the gathering darkness.

The End


End file.
